Hello, everyone! It's been forever, hasn't it? ;)

I've updated the Project: Mobius Fab 50. If you haven't checked it out yet, click here! I update it every Monday night, so expect an update in 24 hours!

Anyways, Chapter 21 is starring our own blackjack, Shadow! Please read and review; the next chapter is an SE, so please throw out requests!

Shadow watched as Knuckles made his performance to Shade. "Good, maybe he'll be off my back", he thought. He hated how the red echidna was always loving on his girlfriend. When would he realize that Rouge didn't like him still?

Shrugging, the black hedgehog turned his thoughts to himself. Being with Rouge, he felt different than he normally did. Granted, he had never been in a relationship before. But he was still trying to figure out what makes a person act different when you're with someone.

And, being a person that generally didn't have to deal with so many emotions, he had to get them out. Being a newbie at romance, he decided to talk to talk to another non-expert in romance, Vector. He caught up to the green crocodile, giving him a quick, "Hey, Vec!" as he directed him away from Vanilla and Cream.

Vector was slightly worried. It wasn't like Shadow talked to him very often. Hopefully something wasn't up. As he walked towards the ebony hedgehog, he replied with a simple, "What's up?"

Shadow sighed. "Well, I've been having some girl problems. No, not girl problems. More like me problems." Vector gave him a troubled look. "What?"

"You know I'm not the guy to talk to you about this, right? I've spent a good part of my life recently trying to get Vanilla's satisfaction. You think I've been thinking about me?"

"Well, that's the problem I've been having recently. As you know, Rouge tends to be a little bossy. Instead of fighting for myself, I just end up saying "Yeah, honey", or "OK, girl" to whatever she says. What should I do?"

Vector shrugged, putting his hands up in the air. "I don't know. What do you want me to say? I guess that maybe you should talk to her. But," Vector pointed to the stage, "You could sing first. Maybe do the two at the same time? Anyways, I gotta catch up with my group. See ya!"

Shadow was slightly frustrated as the crocodile ran away. Why did everyone expect him to sing? He had already sung two songs! "Oh,well", he thought. "At least I won't have to sing later."

Shadow slowly walked up onto the stage, barely escaping being marauded by hordes of fan girls. Considering the fact that he was now going out with Rouge, that definitely wouldn't look good on his record. "Wow, guys. So, what's going on?" Again, Shadow was almost brought down off the stage, only to be "saved" by the many bodyguards there.

"So, anyway, this song's for my girlfriend, Rouge. It's Rope by the Foo Fighters. Thank you, and please listen, girl!" Shadow gave a slight wink in Rouge's direction, trying to keep her in a good mood.

This indecision's got me climbing up the walls.
I've been cheating gravity and waiting on the falls.
How did this come over me? I thought I was above it all.
Our hopes gone up in smoke, swallow your crown.

(Yowh!)
On a kiss, I thought I'd save my breath for you.
(Yowh!)
On a kiss, I thought I'd save my breath for you.

Give me some rope I'm coming loose. I'm hanging on you.
Give me some rope I'm coming loose. I'm pulling for you now.
Give me some rope I'm coming out of my head, into the clear...
When you go I come loose!

After hearing some of the lyrics, Rouge did a double-take. What was the black hedgehog talking about? "Our hopes gone up in smoke"? If Shadow was really serious about what he was singing, he should have talked to her first.

These premonitions got me crying up a storm.
Leave your condition, this position does no harm.

(Yowh!)
On a kiss, I thought I'd save my breath for you.
(Yowh!)
On a kiss, I thought I'd save my breath for you!

Give me some rope I'm coming loose. I'm hanging on you!
Give me some rope I'm coming loose. I'm pulling for you now!
Give me some rope I'm coming, out of my head, into the clear...
When you go I come loose.

It was time for an epic guitar solo! Shadow grabbed the guitar sitting on the side of the stage and started jamming. He was actually very good at playing guitar, and got much applause from his fans for his talent.

Give me some rope I'm coming loose! I'm hanging on you!
Give me some rope I'm coming loose! I'm pulling for you now!
Give me some rope I'm coming, out of my head, into the clear...
When you go, I come loose!

The crowd went crazy to Shadow's performance, having a borderline-raucous applause. Shadow was able to mutter an "Umm... Thank you!", before he was forced to Chaos Control away from the stage. He luckily (or unluckily, if you want to put it that way) teleported next to Rouge, who he had meant to talk to. However, the white bat gave him a glare. "So, Shadow, what was that about?"

Realizing that he may be in a sticky situation, the ebony hedgehog gave a cheap laugh. "Well, I meant to talk to you about that, but... I wasn't sure what to do. I've never been in a relationship this intimate before."

Rouge pondered this for a moment. She hadn't really ever thought about that before! "OK, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, you've been kind of, umm, demanding a little bit to me. You've always been like that to me, but you've been bossier since we started going out. Have you acted like that to all of the guys you have gone out with, or do you expect me to take it easier? I mean, I don't really care, but I'd like to know."

The ivory bat forced out a laugh. "What do you mean, you don't care? It's obvious you care!" She decided to tone it down a bit. "I'm sorry about that. It's mainly just me, but I promise I'll try to work on it, OK?"

Rouge gave Shadow a deep kiss, which lasted a few seconds. "That's fine, honey. I can work with that."

The white bat's opposite lover returned the kiss, along with her gum. She took a sigh of relief; there was really nothing to worry about at all.

Well, that's the chapter for you! Please review and make more SE requests (as long as they haven't sung yet tonight); the next chapter's an SE!

All Sonic characters are owned by SEGA. The song "Rope" is by the Foo Fighters. The lyrics are a revised version from AZLyrics.